


All Those Years of Desolation

by marinaalexis



Category: Pretty Little Liars
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-24
Updated: 2018-07-22
Packaged: 2019-05-28 02:35:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15038780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marinaalexis/pseuds/marinaalexis
Summary: "Just several days ago, the girl beside her had been actively working against them, and now she was huddled with them like she was one of them?" The girls might be forced to deal with Mona as an ally once she's ousted from the A team, but that doesn't mean they're quite ready to consider her a friend. (AU in which the idea of Mona becoming the fifth Liar isn't dropped after 4x01.)





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

A fire, a dead body, and an A message, and suddenly it seemed like their four-person group was expanding to five.

Spencer adjusted the netted neckline of the black dress she'd found buried in the back of her closet. She shoved her phone angrily back into her clutch and looked at the girls around her. Her three best friends in the world…and Mona.

She bristled a little. Just several days ago, the girl beside her had been actively working against them, and now she was huddled with them like she was suddenly one of them?

Spencer exchanged an unnerved glance with Emily. There was no way that was going to happen, not if she could help it. But there were more pressing issues to deal with now. Like the murder that A was trying to pin on them.

Spencer squinted down the sidewalk, just able to make out Holbrook's retreating figure. Something about that guy struck her as slimy, not quite genuine. Better than Wilden, but only by a very small margin.

"I can't believe this," Aria muttered, watching the video that A had just sent them once again. "I just…" she trailed off, shaking her head faintly.

"Of course A was there that night," Hanna said, her lip curling in disgust. "We should have seen this coming."

"Well we didn't," Spencer said, more sharply than intended. Her stomach was roiling. She'd already been accused of murder once. There was nothing she wanted less than to go through that again. "But the important thing is that we know now."

"So now what?" Mona cut in, edging closer to the group and folding her arms. "We meet up somewhere and figure out a plan?"

Spencer flinched instinctively, exchanging glances with the others. Emily furrowed her brow. "Um, actually, I'm pretty tired."

"Yeah, I don't – I don't think any of us are really up for much planning right now," Hanna added apologetically – a little too apologetically. "We'll talk at school tomorrow, okay?"

"Oh." Mona pressed her lips together. She obviously knew that something was up. Spencer averted her eyes, unashamed. She didn't care if the girl who up until two days ago was bent on ruining their lives knew that she was being excluded. What, did she actually expect them to embrace her with open arms?

Hanna offered a small, uncomfortable smile. "See you later?"

"Yeah. See you," Mona said quietly. She turned on her heel and walked away, holding her clutch tightly.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Emily frowned, her suspicious expression matching Spencer's feelings perfectly. "Is it just me, or was that a little too…"

She trailed off, but Spencer finished for her, narrowing her eyes. "Easy?"

Emily shifted in her tall heels, swallowing hard. "Yeah."

"You guys, Mona was A, like, two minutes ago. She probably gets that we don't want to be best buds." Hanna lifted one shoulder, still looking awkward. She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, adding in a low voice, "I basically told her as much."

"Okay, whatever," Aria broke in, waving her hands in front of her face. "Forget about her. I've got to go get out of this thing." She tugged on the hem of her short, not entirely funeral appropriate dress.

Spencer glanced around at her friends, raising an eyebrow. "The Brew in an hour?"

The girls agreed and parted ways. Emily went to find her mother, and Aria and Hanna headed to their cars. Spencer glanced once more at her phone, grimacing at the memory of the latest threat. Then she squared her shoulders and pulled her car keys out of her purse.

There was no use sitting around and waiting for A to make the next move. Not when the stakes were this high.

…

"Okay." It was said in place of a greeting, as Hanna dropped her purse on the floor and plopped heavily down onto the couch in the back of the Brew. Spencer shifted to make room for her. "What are we gonna do?"

Spencer raised an eyebrow. "That could be referring to a lot of different things."

"You mean that creepy woman in the veil?" Aria asked, shivering. She held a mug of coffee and whipped cream between both hands but was making no move to take a sip. Spencer, on the other hand, had downed half of her black coffee in practically one gulp. Every nerve in her body felt like it was standing on end, but she liked it that way. Oddly, it made her feel steady, in control. Like she could take on the world.

"Who do you think it was?" Emily chimed in, propping her elbows on her knees and folding her hands under her chin. "Melissa?"

Spencer stiffened at the mention of her sister. "No," she insisted. "Melissa's in Washington, she's not even – "

"I'm not talking about the freaky woman in black," Hanna interrupted, waving her hands in the air. "I'm talking about Mona."

Spencer froze, her coffee cup halfway to her mouth. She exchanged a glance with Emily as Aria furrowed her brow. "What about her?"

Hanna shrugged. The same expression of ambivalence that she'd worn outside the church flitted across her face again. "We can't pretend like she didn't get the same text that we did. A's after her now, too."

Aria looked like she was about to choke on her drink. Spencer leaned forward, unable to believe what she was hearing. She knew that Hanna's relationship with Mona was more complicated than the rest of theirs, but the look on her face was almost sympathetic. "Han," she said urgently, "up until two days ago, Mona was the one after us. She can't be trusted just because A decided to kick her to the curb."

"And who knows if they actually did?" Emily added. "This whole thing could just be a set-up. Maybe she never stopped playing the game at all."

"Wouldn't be the first time she sent herself A messages," Aria muttered, raising her shoulders. It was a good point, Spencer had to admit.

But Hanna just shook her head, clutching her coffee and staring into space so intently that Spencer could practically see the gears turning in her head. "I don't think so."

An uncomfortable silence settled around them. Spencer raised the mug to her lips again, taking another long sip of her drink even though she could feel her hands starting to shake. After a moment, Emily cleared her throat. "Maybe…maybe we should let Mona in." Spencer felt her mouth drop open at the same time that Aria's did. Emily held up a hand before either of them could speak. "Just a little."

An incredulous laugh burbled out of Spencer. "You can't be serious."

"I'm not saying we should be best friends with her," Emily argued. Spencer leaned back, crossing her legs. She raised an inquisitive eyebrow at the conviction in Emily's voice. "But she had an in with A. She might have information we can use."

Hanna nodded slowly, pursing her lips. "Keep your enemies close. I'm with you, Em."

"So what?" Aria burst out, looking disturbed. "We start sharing sodas at lunch and just pretend that she didn't send Spencer straight to the loony bin?"

Spencer flinched a little at the derogatory term, but let it slide. Despite the harsh phrasing, she appreciated Aria's concern for her, at least. But the more she thought about it, the more she began to see Emily and Hanna's point of view. They'd been running around in circles for months, desperately trying to keep their heads above water. Having someone on their side who knew what it was like to be in A's head might be more of an asset than they thought.

Her friends were watching her, as if it was her opinion that would cement their decision. She shifted, the backs of her legs making sucking sounds against the leather of the couch. "We'll be cordial," she said firmly. "But not friends."

Aria let out a frustrated breath. Emily bit her lip, stirring her drink. Hanna hopped to her feet. "Then it's settled. I declare this meeting officially over."

Spencer felt her lips twitch into a smile. "Meeting?"

Hanna shrugged. "I wouldn't exactly call it just hanging out."

"That's what we need to do," Emily declared, getting up as well. "Sleep over at one of our houses, watch a movie…something normal."

"Yeah," Aria muttered. She slung her purse over her shoulder, her eyes darting back and forth in an obvious state of paranoia that Spencer knew well. "Might as well live it up before A takes us down for Wilden's murder."

Spencer shushed her just as her phone chimed. She pulled it out to find a text from Toby: Need to talk.

Her stomach lurched. "We'll figure it out," she said, the words coming out in a burst of confidence that didn't at all match how she was truly feeling. "Let's get some sleep, we'll talk at lunch tomorrow."

She headed for the doors, trying to push her friends' worried expressions out of her mind.

…

Toby was waiting on Spencer's back porch when she walked up, his arms folded and a brooding look on his face. She felt her heart begin to pound as she approached him. Ever since their reunion, she'd put on a good front, acting the role of the perfect girlfriend and trying to pretend that the past several weeks had never happened. But as she'd ran a hand over his bare chest, as she'd praised the breakfast he'd made her, her stomach had swirled with discomfort, the memories of seeing him in that black hoodie, of knowing that he'd allowed Red Coat to break her into pieces, seeping into her mind.

Even looking at him now sent a wave of unease running through her so hard that she pressed the back of her hand to her mouth. Toby walked toward her. "Spencer," he said urgently, putting a hand on her arm.

Spencer resisted the urge to cringe away. Her heart swelled with a strange combination of love for him and disgust at what he'd done. Part of her wished she could take back all that they'd done in that dusty room at the Lost Woods…but another part wished she could go back to that moment and stay in it forever.

"What's going on?" she asked, shoving down her conflicted feelings as soon as she saw the unsettled look on his face.

Toby's hand dropped back to his side. "There's something you need to know."

"What is it?" Spencer asked wearily, visions of pigs in trunks and taunting messages about murder passing through her head. She wasn't sure how much more bad news she could take.

Toby leaned against the porch railing. Spencer noticed that he was clutching his phone tightly. There was a text conversation displayed on the screen, but it was turned partially away from her. "Earlier today, I got a text. From Red Coat."

"What?" Spencer's eyes darted once again to the phone in his hand. Her mind flashed back to that horrible night in her kitchen, Toby standing in front of her, her open palm connecting with the side of his face.

"She wanted me to do something," Toby replied, his voice low and dark.

Spencer could feel frustration building inside of her. "All of this beating around the bush is starting to make me nervous. What did she want you to do?" It couldn't have been anything good.

Toby hesitated, and then the words began to spill out. "She told me to give her the RV. Mona's RV, the one with all of the…A stuff in it. And I…I did it."

Spencer blinked. There was no possible way she'd heard him correctly. "You…no. You didn't."

"I didn't have any other choice," he insisted, and she felt her heart sink down into her stomach with all-encompassing dread. "Spence, A knows something about what happened to my mom. It wasn't really a suicide. Someone did something to her, and Red Coat's going to tell me what it was."

The ground seemed to tilt beneath Spencer's feet. The RV. They'd searched through it just the other day, sorting through photographs and masks and stacks of detailed notes. They were going to destroy it, make sure that A's source of information was limited, at least. And now it was gone. Back in the hands of their enemy.

Spencer met Toby's eyes, and barely recognized him. "How could you do that?" she breathed, feeling like someone had slammed their fist into the center of her stomach.

Toby shook his head, holding out the phone. "I didn't want to. I would never want to do anything to hurt you. But look at this."

Cautiously, she took the phone from him and peered down at the text. Sure enough, it was from their anonymous stalker. A demand for the RV, and a promise of information when it was delivered.

Spencer's heart jumped into her throat. Toby had never been the same after his mother's death, he'd always told her that. To find out that someone had potentially taken her from him must have been killing him inside. Spencer didn't blame him for wanting to do whatever it took to get answers.

But the betrayal still hit her like a train, anyway…especially after everything that they'd just been through. It was like he hadn't learned a thing, like he didn't care to.

She shoved the phone back into his hands, her head spinning in a million different directions. "Why didn't you talk to me first?" she asked, her voice surprisingly calm.

Toby ran a hand through his hair. He looked tormented. "I wanted to. But I was worried that Red Coat would take back the offer if I said anything."

"That was all we had." Spencer's voice was faint. She felt like she was floating above the porch, above the entire house. "We finally could have been one step ahead of A."

"You'll figure something out," Toby said insistently. "You always do."

In that moment, Spencer noticed two things. The first was his use of the word you, not we. The second was that, just like after she'd discovered that he'd faked his death, the words "I'm sorry" were nowhere to be found.

"Yeah," she muttered, swallowing hard to try and push down the sudden fury flooding through her. She was too tired to fight, especially when the fight might not even be worth it this time. "I'm sure you're right."

Toby started to speak again, but Spencer turned and pulled open the back door, averting her eyes. He paused. "Spence, wait."

"It's late," she called, and let the door slam shut behind her. She waited until the sound of his footsteps disappeared, then threw her phone down on the sofa and let out a groan of utter frustration at the misery that seemed to be seeping into every aspect of her life.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Aria let the door to the Brew swing shut behind her, said goodbye to her friends, climbed into her car, and began driving. All with the intention of going straight home.

It wasn't until she was making a right turn instead of a left at the last light before her house that she realized where she was actually going. And even then, she made no effort to change her own mind. She steered the car to the side of the road in front of the big blue and white Victorian house, breathing hard. Then, before she lost the nerve, she shoved the gear into park and got out.

Screw what Hanna, Emily, and Spencer said. She wanted answers, and she was pretty sure being nice and friendly wasn't going to help her get them.

Her fist was already pounding on the door before the fear of a parent answering struck her. But a moment later it flung open to reveal Mona on the other side. Dressed in leggings and a slightly too big slouchy shirt, she actually looked like a normal teenage girl, and not an evil hacking genius.

If Mona was surprised to see Aria standing on her front porch, she did a good job of hiding it. "Aria," she said slowly, raising an eyebrow. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Aria took a deep breath, as unnerved as she always felt in Mona's presence. She lifted her chin and drew herself up to her full height, which was a full inch taller than the girl in front of her - it was an insignificant thing, but a victory in Aria's mind nonetheless. "I want to go back to that RV. Tonight."

It hadn't even really occurred to her until the very moment the words were leaving her mouth, but as soon as they did, Aria found herself practically unable to stand still. She and the girls had taken a quick look around the camper the other day, but they'd been interrupted by those creepy mini-me kids and their dolls before they could really dig deep.

"It's late, Aria," Mona said, tilting her head condescendingly. "Don't you think this can wait until tomorrow?"

"No," Aria snapped instantly. There was no way she'd be able to get to sleep now that she had this idea in her head. She needed to get out there and satisfy this sudden burning curiosity. "I'm not giving you any more time to sneak out there and purge it all yourself." She folded her arms. "If you won't go with me, I'll find it myself."

Mona gave a short, disbelieving laugh. "Good luck with that."

Aria flinched, but she knew, deep down, that Mona was right. Hanna had tried to explain where they'd dumped the RV the other day, but her description was so vague that Aria knew there was no way she'd be able to get there on her own.

She waited, determined not to break first. After a long moment, Mona sighed. "If it'll convince you that I'm no longer working against you, fine. You can follow me in your car."

"Fine by me," Aria said snappishly, even as relief flooded through her. She stalked to her car and, after a few minutes, pulled out after Mona, feeling adrenaline rushing through her blood.

But ten minutes later, as she steered the car out of town and down a long, desolate road, the sun dropping beneath the trees, Aria felt nerves begin to pinch her stomach. Was she crazy, coming out here alone with Mona? For all she knew, Red Coat would pop out and knock her over the head with a crow bar, and then she and Mona would drive both Aria and the info-filled RV right off a bridge.

Why hadn't she asked the others to come with her? Spencer, at least, surely would have been up for it. Aria groaned as the familiar dilapidated barn came up on her left. She'd always thought that impulsivity was Spencer's thing, but maybe she was the one who needed to work on thinking ahead.

But there was no going back now. Mona's car was already parked beside the tall, rusted fence when Aria shakily got out of her own. Trying to bring back some of the determination she'd felt just fifteen minutes ago, she walked toward the fence. Mona was already fiddling with the lock. "You can wait out here until I'm done," Aria said, hoping her voice sounded authoritative enough.

"I don't think you're really in a position to…" Mona's voice faded as she pulled open the fence. She froze, staring straight ahead. "Oh my god."

The shock in her voice spurred Aria forward. "What?"

"It's…gone," Mona said faintly, still gazing past the fence line.

"What are you talking about?" Aria demanded. Her heart pounding, she took a few steps forward and peered into the large, empty, quite RV-less space.

"This is right where I left it," Mona said frantically, flicking on her phone's flashlight and shining it around the wide area. "Somebody stole it."

Aria couldn't believe what she was hearing. Mona didn't really expect her to fall for this ridiculous story, did she? "Somebody," she snorted, stepping away from the fence. Her hand closed around the keys in her pocket. "Sure."

Mona's eyes widened as she seemed to realize what Aria was implying. "It wasn't me! Didn't Hanna tell you? We left it here just the other day."

"Yeah," Aria snapped. "That left you plenty of time to sneak back out here and get rid of it yourself."

"Really, Aria?" Mona threw her arms out at her sides. "If I'd done that, why would I agree to bring you out here in the first place?"

It was a good question, but Aria wasn't convinced. If she knew one thing for sure, it was that Mona was always playing some kind of game. "You tell me," she said angrily. "It's all part of one of your big plans, isn't it?"

Just like back at her house, Mona laughed incredulously. But instead of arguing further, she just rolled her eyes and started to stride back to her car, as if this wasn't worth her time. "If you don't believe me, fine," she called over her shoulder. "I'll find it myself."

Aria furrowed her brow as she watched, uncertain. Part of her wanted to run to her own car and get the hell out of there before A inevitably swooped in and did something else terrible. But at the same time, she wondered if it was such a good idea to leave before Mona did – for all she knew, that RV was parked just around the side of the barn, hidden away for future nefarious use.

But before Aria could make up her mind, the sound of glass shattering cut through the otherwise silent air. Mona stopped, gasping, and Aria leapt back. "What was that?"

She didn't have to wait long for the answer. Several yards away, Mona's car suddenly roared to life, its headlights nearly blinding Aria. Mona whipped around, and she and Aria exchanged a look of pure shock as it peeled out of the gravel parking lot, its tires squealing and dust swirling behind it. Shards of glass lay in its wake – it looked as though the front window had been smashed out.

Aria walked over to stand beside Mona, her anger and distrust dissolving into terror. "What just happened?" she asked, her voice small.

Mona shook her head, her face pale. "I have no idea. They couldn't have hotwired it that fast. They must have had a key."

They met each other's eyes. Aria knew exactly what she was thinking – Red Coat. "I don't get it," she stammered, the RV temporarily forgotten. "Why would A steal your car?"

"I don't know, Aria," Mona said, sounding exasperated. "But I obviously don't have a way to get back now, so I'm going to have to ride with you."

Usually, her commanding tone would have filled Aria with irritation. But she was so shaken, all she cared about was getting home, making some tea, and maybe hiding under the covers for a while.

"Then let's hurry," she said, and turned, frantically trying to pull her keys out of her pocket with shaking hands as she walked toward her car.

For a moment, quiet. The first thing she heard was the crunch of gravel. And then Mona, crying out to her. "Look out!"

But Aria had no much more than turned her head before headlights flooded her vision. She couldn't see who was driving the car, or even how close it was, but one thing was certain – it was heading right toward her, and fast.

The phrase "a deer in headlights" had always seemed like a ridiculous comparison to Aria, but in that moment, no expression could have been more perfect. Her brain screamed at her to dive out of the way. A scream froze in her throat. But her legs felt like they were cemented to the ground. She could only stare, terror rising in her chest, as the car barreled toward her.

She squeezed her eyes closed with seconds to spare, her body tightening as she braced herself. But then, at the last possible moment, she felt a hand wrap around her arm. One of her feet left the ground. She could feel the car's motion just inches away as she was yanked out of its path. It roared away, the engine screaming.

Aria stumbled, the force of the pull too strong. She felt herself falling, but the impact came before she even knew what was happening. Her head hit the ground hard, and stars exploded in her vision.

"Oh my god," a voice gasped. The last thing Aria felt was a hand landing gently on her shoulder before the world went dark.

…

Aria dreamed that she was sleeping on a cloud as it flew through a bright blue sky. And when she woke, what simultaneously felt like seconds and years after she hit the ground, it felt like an actual cloud had been stuffed into her head. Either that or a big load of tissue paper.

She let out a weak groan. Even the small amount of light passing through her eyelids felt too bright. And when something brushed against her arm, she jumped in fright, her eyes flying open.

For a moment, all she could do was grimace and squint into the light of the sterile white hospital room. A machine beside her bed let out a beep. Aria's head pounded. She remembered the missing RV, the sound of glass breaking, and a car's headlights in her face, but after that…nothing. Had the car hit her? Was that why she was here?

"Aria."

Fear coursed through Aria's veins at the sound of the voice. She sucked in a breath and turned her head to the side, which only served to send a wave of pain through her temples. She groaned again, raising a hand to the bandage she'd just realized was pressed against the side of her head, as her eyes focused on Mona's face.

She started to jerk away, even as she noticed that, strangely, Mona wasn't smirking or holding a syringe or anything suspicious. In fact, she was frowning, her brow furrowed in concern. "Good," she said finally. "You're awake."

Usually those words would have sent Aria running, mysterious head injury be damned, but something about the tone of Mona's voice, and the look on her face, made it clear that she was being genuine. Slowly, Aria raised herself up. "What…"

"Your mom should be here any minute," Mona interrupted, glancing at her phone. "And I texted Hanna and the others, they're on their way."

Aria blinked. Her brain felt like it was trying to swim through a sea of molasses. Nothing made sense. "I don't…what happened to me?"

Mona's eyes widened. "You don't remember? That must be one wicked concussion."

But no sooner had she started speaking than the memories came flooding back, as if the sound of Mona's voice had finally triggered the floodgates. The car – driven by A, no doubt – barreling toward her while she stood, frozen. Someone pushing her roughly out of its path. Her head slamming into the ground as the car whizzed past her.

It took Aria a minute to put the pieces together. There had only been one other person with her when she'd nearly been flattened into road kill. Only one other person who could have yanked on her arm and pulled her aside.

Only one other person who had, there was no doubt in Aria's mind, saved her life.

She stared hard at the girl sitting beside her. Her foggy head was swirling with confusion. Had Mona actually…saved her? Even if her brain had been working properly, Aria wasn't sure the thought of that would make sense.

She must have had a strange look on her face as she attempted to process this, because Mona gave her a small smile and averted her eyes. Aria opened her mouth, but couldn't think of what to say. Pushing her out of the way of that car didn't make up for months of stalking and torture. If Mona thought Aria was just going to throw away the past and consider all forgotten because of this, she was the one who needed her head examined.

But still…it wasn't like Aria could just pretend that her former enemy hadn't just completely saved her ass, could she?

She took in a breath, not really sure what words were about to exit her mouth, when the door burst open and her mother rushed in. Mona jumped up as Ella hurried to Aria's side.

"Aria, what happened?" she cried, her face pale with fear. Her eyes flicked briefly to Mona, and a look of obvious surprise crossed her face. Aria didn't blame her – considering everything Mona had done to the girls last year, seeing her at Aria's hospital bedside must have been pretty dissonant. "I got a call that you'd been admitted for a concussion."

Aria struggled to find an explanation. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, but I'm okay, Mom. I just…I fell."

Ella's face scrunched dubiously. "You fell?"

"She did," Mona jumped in suddenly. "She tripped on the curb right outside the Brew. All the other girls had already left, thank god I saw what happened."

Aria offered her a wobbly smile as her mother seemed to think this over. She knew that this was the only gratitude she was capable of expressing right now, so she tried to make her words as genuine as possible as she replied, "Yeah. I'm really glad you did."


	3. Chapter 3

Aria's in the hospital. Get here now.

Emily couldn't remember the last time her chest felt so tight. The words of the unexpected text from Mona bounced around in her head as she ran down the hospital corridor, Spencer and Hanna fast on her heels.

"What the hell do you think happened?" Hanna cried as they raced in the direction of the room that the nurse at the front desk had pointed them toward.

"Why was she even alone with Mona to begin with?" Emily added. Suspicions were bouncing around inside of her head so fast that she couldn't even get them straight. Nothing to do with Mona was ever innocent. But she couldn't wrap her head around why Mona would have texted them in the first place if she'd actually done something to Aria.

"I don't know – here," Spencer said hastily, ducking into a room on their left. Emily followed, gasping in relief at the sight of Aria sitting up in the bed, looking unharmed aside from a small bandage near her temple.

"Oh my god, Aria," she exclaimed, rushing over with her friends to perch on the edge of the bed.

"Are you okay?" Spencer cried as she took a seat beside her.

Emily took a deep breath, trying to slow her pounding heart as Aria nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay." She smiled faintly. "You guys got here fast."

"Um, yeah. All we got was some vague text from Mona about you being in the hospital, of course we did," Hanna said, holding up her phone and waving it slightly.

Emily glanced at Spencer and Hanna warily. "I just…I don't understand," she said, trying hard to keep her voice calm and measured. "When we left the Brew you said you were going home."

"How'd you end up with Mona?" Spencer added, her face tight and protective. "Did she do something to you?"

Several expressions passed across Aria's face in quick succession. Emily felt her chest tighten again, but then Aria shook her head slowly. "No…no, she actually…she saved me."

Emily listened with growing shock as Aria recounted the events of the past hour. It didn't surprise her that Aria had decided to go out and search the RV on her own – when Aria got an idea in her head, her passion for it could be pretty intense. But the RV going missing? Red Coat stealing Mona's car and trying to flatten Aria to the cement? Even the thought of Mona yanking Aria out of harm's way was pretty hard to believe after all of their history.

As Aria finished talking and took in a breath, Emily furrowed her brow. "I don't know. Isn't it kind of suspicious that Red Coat just happened to show up and get into Mona's car? What if they were in on it together?"

"A always shows up at just the right time," Hanna argued. "She probably just followed them out there. Wouldn't be the first time."

Aria groaned, raising a hand to her forehead. "Guys, can we not do this right now? I'm kind of too concussed to think about all of this. You can interrogate Mona yourselves if you want, she just went to go find coffee."

Emily's eyebrows shot up. "Wait, she's still here?" She figured Mona had basically dumped Aria at the hospital entrance and sped away.

"I mean, she doesn't have a car," Aria said with a small shrug. But a strange, questioning look crossed her face, as though she was wondering if that was the only reason why their former tormenter was still hanging around.

Hanna shook her head, tracing her finger over the stripes on Aria's bed sheets. "God. I can't believe the RV's actually gone."

"Shh," Aria warned, her eyes flitting in the direction of the hallway. Ella was standing just outside of the room, talking to a man in glasses and a white doctor's coat.

"If Mona really didn't move it, Red Coat must have found it, right?" Emily whispered. A shiver shot up her spine at the thought of A being in possession of the contents of that trailer – so much information on them that they should have gotten rid of when they had the chance. Of course A would get her hands on it the second she could.

Hanna glanced at Spencer. Her frown deepened, and Emily followed her gaze. Spencer was perched on the bottom corner of the bed. She was staring silently down at her hands. Her face was pale, almost green. "Spence, you okay?" Hanna asked.

"Yeah, why so quiet?" Aria said, smiling. "Normally you'd be bursting with theories by now."

Spencer bit her lip, raising her eyes to glance at them without lifting her head. She looked like she was desperately trying to contain herself, to keep the words back, but they spilled out of her mouth anyway. "Red Coat didn't steal the RV."

"Wait, how do you know that?" Hanna demanded.

Emily could almost feel the tension that fell over the four of them like a blanket. Spencer took a deep breath, then said shakily, her voice barely above a whisper, "Because Toby did."

The silence that followed was horrible. Aria widened her eyes at Emily, who felt as though she was frozen on the edge of the bed. She must have misheard, that must have been it. The only reason Toby had joined the A team was to protect Spencer – and, to a lesser extent, she liked to believe, all of them. He'd done bad things, but it was for a good reason…at least that was what she told herself. But this?

She met Spencer's eyes. "What?"

She hoped that Spencer would speak up and clarify, that Emily and the others had just misunderstood. But she shook her head miserably. "He told me earlier tonight. Red Coat contacted him. She told him to deliver the RV to her, and…he did." Her voice was heartbreakingly hollow.

Aria sat up slowly. Her eyes were even wider than usual. "Oh my god."

A dull pain began to form in Emily's chest. "Are you sure you understood him correctly?"

Spencer glanced at her sharply. For a moment, her face darkened, like she was about to bite Emily's head off for even suggesting it. But then her shoulders slumped in defeat, as if she didn't have the energy to fight. "I'm positive."

"I thought Toby was on our side," Hanna burst out, hopping up from the bed and crossing her arms. "But he really is working with Red Coat?"

"No," Spencer exclaimed insistently.

"Then why else would he give her the RV?" Aria asked slowly. She grimaced and rubbed at her temples.

Emily pinched her palm as Spencer leaned forward. She opened and closed her mouth a few times. A conflicted, almost fearful look crossed her face. Emily wasn't even sure she wanted to hear the answer. As much as it tore her up inside to think that Toby could still be working with A, it was even worse to imagine that he was being threatened with something horrific if he didn't comply.

After a few long, torturous seconds, Spencer sighed. "He – " But the sound of the door squeaking cut her off, and Emily turned her head just as Mona slipped in, holding two Styrofoam cups.

Emily's stomach twisted. If what Aria said was true, Mona had potentially saved her life. That was huge. But it didn't erase the fact that every time she looked at Mona, all she could see was the girl in a black hoodie, making endless copies of Emily and Maya kissing in that stupid photo booth to distribute around the entire school.

"I know you asked for coffee, but I thought tea might be better," Mona said, smiling apologetically at Aria as she handed her one of the cups. "They had green tea, your favorite." Finally, she glanced around at Emily and the others. "And I see the gang's all here."

Spencer stared back at her stonily. Hanna scuffed her heel awkwardly against the ugly tan tile floor. A machine across the room let out a beep, as if to try and break the silence. "Why the long faces?" Mona asked, then added lightly, "Look, I'm sorry I don't have a drink for everyone, but I didn't realize you'd all get here so quickly."

The attempt at a joke fell obviously flat. Emily folded her arms and stood. "No one cares about coffee. We care about you and Aria ending up alone by some abandoned barn."

"Aria told us what happened tonight," Spencer added before Mona could protest. "And we all think it's interesting that A was able to get your car working in such little time. What was it, five seconds?"

Mona raised her eyebrows. Her eyes darted to Aria, who was leaning back silently in bed, staring downward. "Isn't it a little late in the game to start questioning A's technological abilities?"

"It is a little weird," Emily heard herself admit, before she even really considered the words. "Almost like A knew you'd be coming."

"Alright, are the rest of you concussed, too?" Mona cried, throwing out her arms in obvious frustration. A bit of coffee sloshed over the edge of her cup. "Aria was the one who insisted we go out to the RV, remember? How could I possibly have set that up?"

"It was my idea," Aria murmured, her voice so faint that Emily wondered for a moment if she'd actually meant to say the words aloud.

Spencer's eyes were narrowed practically into slits. "You drove in separate cars. That would have left you plenty of time to make a call, send a few texts. Make sure A knew exactly where to find one of us alone." Her voice was shaking with barely-controlled anger. She was obviously still reeling from Toby's betrayal.

Mona's face reddened. She stared hard at Spencer. "That's veering a little too far into conspiracy territory, don't you think, Alex Jones?" she snapped sarcastically. Then she turned, almost desperately, to Hanna. "You don't really believe this, do you?"

Hanna just shook her head, biting her lip. "I don't know what to believe anymore."

"Aria, you were there!" Mona said, changing tactics. "You know I had nothing to do with this. I was just as shocked as you were!"

Emily glanced back at her friend, who looked smaller than ever sitting in the big hospital bed. "Aria?" she asked gently.

Four heads swiveled around to stare at the recently concussed girl. Aria looked from one face to another. Her eyes were slightly bleary, and Emily could practically see her heart racing. "I…" She sighed. "I know you pushed me out of the way. That's it."

Her voice was quiet but firm. Mona looked like Aria had just jumped out of the bed and slapped her across the face. "Wow," she muttered, and set her coffee down hard on the small table beneath the television. "I guess it's true. Nothing I do is ever going to be enough, is it?"

She took one last long look at them in the silence that followed, then shook her head and stormed out of the room. Emily watched her go, feeling surprisingly detached. She was glad, of course, that Aria hadn't been flattened under the wheels of that car. But that did nothing to make up for the months of torture that Mona had inflicted on them. It wasn't their problem that she couldn't figure that out.

…

Emily had just pulled into the driveway the next day after a quick shift at the Brew when she noticed a flash of movement on her front porch. She knew that her mother was working until that evening, so when a human-sized shadow fell across the steps, she felt her heart leap into her throat.

She was just paranoid, she knew that, but it wasn't like she didn't have the right to be.

"Hello?" she called, stepping cautiously out of her car and easing the door shut behind her.

"Em." Paige appeared from the side of the porch, and Emily's shoulders fell with relief.

"Hey," she said, a smile slipping onto her face as she ran up the stairs. She kissed Paige quickly. "Did we have plans?"

"No," Paige replied, and it was just then that Emily noticed the broad smile lighting up her face, and the large white envelope in her hand. "I have something to tell you…or, show you, kind of."

She laughed, and Emily raised her eyebrows. There was a giddiness in Paige's tone that she hadn't heard since before the lighthouse, before Nate, before the debilitating panic attacks. "Let me guess," Emily said, grinning curiously. After spending a sleepless night fretting over Aria's concussion, Mona's true intentions, and Toby's betrayal, she was glad to have a distraction. "It has something to do with what's in that envelope?"

"You tell me," Paige said, and held it up, gripping it tightly between two hands. "CONGRATULATIONS" was written across the front in large, red block letters. "WELCOME TO STANFORD."

Emily had to read the words several times, her eyes flitting back and forth across the paper, before they made sense. She gasped as Paige exclaimed, "I got in!"

"Oh my god," Emily whispered. A laugh burbled out of her throat on instinct, and she threw her arms around Paige. "That's amazing!"

"A full ride," Paige breathed, pulling away and grasping Emily's forearms tightly. "Can you believe it? I mean, I know it's what I always talked about, but I thought it was just a pipe dream."

"I didn't," Emily said, her chest swelling with pride. "I knew you could do it." But as soon as the words exited her mouth, she felt herself begin to deflate. Stanford. California. It might as well have been on a different planet.

Her smile twitched, and Paige seemed to notice. "You're applying too, right? I got in early acceptance, but there are still months before the official deadline."

"California," Emily repeated aloud, sinking down onto the top porch step. "That's…a long way away."

"Exactly," Paige said emphatically, dropping down beside Emily and resting her elbows on her knees. "Almost as far from Rosewood as you can get. What could be better?"

Emily pinched her palm between the thumb and forefinger of her other hand. "We could go to Stanford together," she mused, more to herself than to Paige. "Dorm together, swim every day…"

Paige nudged her shoulder. "And the best part? No A."

A. Emily flinched. She opened her mouth, ready to tell Paige all about what had gone down last night. But she stopped herself. Paige had been more on-edge than ever since the incident with Maya's stalker. Her acceptance to Stanford had finally seemed to ease her mind, but finding out that A had just tried to mow down Aria with a stolen car certainly wouldn't help soothe her anxieties. And the last thing Emily wanted to do was sour this moment.

She tilted her head, pushing A firmly out of her mind. "I don't even know if I'd get in," she admitted.

"Please," Paige scoffed. She reached over and brushed a strand of Emily's hair behind her ear. "If they accepted me on a full ride, you'll be a shoo-in."

Emily tried to return her excited smile. She held Paige's hand tightly, picturing sunny California, sparkling blue pools, and a new life away from Rosewood and the trouble that seemed to follow her everywhere in this town.

But as hard as she tried, that same dark, foreboding feeling kept creeping back in. Because she knew from experience that leaving Rosewood was never as easy as it seemed.


	4. Chapter 4

Hanna had been doing a lot of thinking.

Sure, most of that thinking had been done during English class, but this was far more important than listening to a droning discussion on the significance of the name of Hester Prynne's daughter.

She was thinking a little about what movies she should bring when she went to visit Aria, who was out of school for the rest of the week. And a little about grocery shopping for the dinner she and Caleb were planning on making for her mom that weekend.

Mostly, though, she was thinking about Mona.

Something had been bothering her since she left the hospital two nights ago, and it had taken her over forty-eight hours to figure out what it was. It was no secret that Hanna's relationship with Mona was more complicated than her friends'. While they looked at Mona and saw nothing but a threatening stalker in a black hoodie, Hanna saw an endless amount of sleepovers, hours spent gossiping at the mall, and the amazing glow of finally having a friend again after her entire world crumbled at the start of her ninth grade year.

It wasn't so easy for Hanna to turn completely against Mona the way that her friends had. They had been too close for that.

But that also meant that it was even harder for Hanna to get over what her former best friend had done to her. Not just hitting her with a car, but months of making Hanna live with a feeling of constant, terrible dread. Wondering every time she opened her mouth if A was listening, if her own words were going to be twisted and used against her.

It was the irrational jolt of her stomach that Hanna felt when Ezra drew a large red letter A on the board, signifying Hester Prynne's branding symbol, that made her realize what it was that was bothering her so much.

Nothing I do is ever going to be enough, is it?

Hanna had seen the incredulous looks on her friends' faces as soon as Mona had said those words. And she had to admit, she couldn't blame them. As much as she couldn't bring herself to just throw away the friendship they'd had, it bugged her that Mona seemed to expect that they'd be willing to embrace her with open arms after…what? Two days off of the A team?

Regardless of what she'd done to help them in that time, it was going to take a lot longer for Hanna to learn to trust her again – if that really was what Mona wanted.

The least Hanna could do, though, was tell her that. Directly this time, not in some roundabout, "I know you know I'm just pretending everything's fine" kind of way. And she had to do it alone.

"Hey." Mona's eyes crinkled in obvious confusion as soon as Hanna pulled open her front door.

"Hey," Hanna replied, and stepped aside so she could enter.

Mona didn't meet Hanna's eyes, instead gazing around the entryway like she'd never seen it before. "I was surprised to get your text. Is everything okay?" She suddenly turned to face Hanna, raising her eyebrows. "Don't tell me something happened to that chip."

"No. No, of course not," Hanna insisted – at least she didn't think so. Admittedly, she hadn't checked her hiding spot in the makeup case since she'd dumped the computer chip in there the other day. "I just…I need to talk to you about something."

The words sounded awkward coming out of her mouth. If Mona noticed, she didn't comment, following Hanna into the kitchen silently. She slid onto one of the seats at the island. "So what's on your mind, girlie?"

There was a forced cheerfulness to her voice that wasn't lost on Hanna. She leaned against the counter, clasping her hands together. "I keep thinking about something you said the other day. In the hospital." When Mona didn't respond, she cleared her throat and went on, "You know, about…nothing you do ever being enough."

Mona's expression darkened so slightly that Hanna wondered if she'd imagined it. "What about it?"

"It's just…" Hanna resisted the urge to start picking the nail polish off of her brand-new manicure. "It's only been a couple days, Mona. You can't really blame us for not lining up to be your best friend."

She'd tried to phrase it as gently as possible, but her former friend still looked wounded. "I let you search the RV. I gave you that computer chip. I saved Aria's freaking life. What else do I have to do to prove to you four that I'm on your side now?"

"It's not really about that," Hanna insisted, even though it was, sort of. "You were A for a really long time. Not just once, but twice. We can't just forget about all of that."

Mona shifted in her seat. She was starting to look uncomfortable. "Han, I'm sorry about everything I did. I would take it all back if I could. But I can't change the past."

She sounded genuine, even looked a little near tears, but Hanna closed her eyes and pictured Mona taunting Spencer in the woods, beside what was supposedly Toby's dead body, just a few weeks ago. Her stomach twisted. "You did horrible things," she practically whispered. "To all of us."

"And I'm sorry!" Mona cried again, jumping up. A tear actually did roll down her cheek now. "Am I ever going to be able to prove that?"

Hanna desperately wanted to give her the answer she craved. That she'd talk to her friends, and within a few more days all would be forgiven, water under the bridge. But she couldn't get the words out. They both knew that wasn't true.

"I don't know," she said finally. She couldn't bring herself to meet Mona's eyes. "But I know that if you can, it's going to take time."

Such a long silence followed that Hanna become uncomfortably aware of her nails beginning to dig into the center of her palm. She pried her hand open and lifted her gaze. Mona was staring down at the countertop, her expression indecipherable. Hanna shifted. "Mona?"

"I get it," her old best friend said quietly. "I was stupid to think that things could ever go back to the way they used to be."

It was no sentiment that she hadn't expressed before, but something about the tone of her voice, despite everything, sent a wave of sympathy running through Hanna. Mona's actions as A had been horrible – some even approaching the line of unforgiveable – but it wasn't like she'd done it all for no reason.

This time, Hanna pictured the humiliated girl standing beside their lunch table as Alison dismissed her with yet another degrading comment. Then she pictured that same girl sitting, catatonic, in Radley, years of embarrassment and rage and self-loathing finally having bubbled over.

As awful as Mona's response to Alison's bullying had been, it wasn't like she was the only totally guilty party here. Hanna reached over and touched her arm briefly. "I'm not saying that. You just need to give me – and especially my friends – more than two days. Building trust takes time."

Something in Mona's expression softened. She even gave Hanna a small smile. "That was actually pretty insightful."

Hanna smiled back, and for just the briefest moment, the tension between them dissipated. It almost felt like old times, before broken legs, before bodies in backyards, before A.

And then Hanna's phone chimed with a text from Caleb, and the spell was broken. Mona grabbed her purse and stood. "I should probably go."

"Caleb's not coming over until tonight," Hanna blurted without thinking. "Want to stay and hang out for awhile?"

The words hung between them awkwardly. They both knew it was more of an olive branch than a genuine offer. Despite the one pleasant moment they'd just shared, they were far from that point.

But still. It was something. And Mona seemed to realize that at the same time as Hanna. She smiled again and moved toward the door. "I'll see you at school."

Hanna sunk down heavily onto one of the island stools as she listened to the sound of the front door clicking shut. Her stomach felt queasy with unease, and for a moment she couldn't put her finger on why that was. That conversation had gone much better than anticipated, and though she couldn't speak for her friends, she had a feeling that her relationship with Mona was eventually going to be okay.

But her brain kept cycling around to one thing Mona had said. Don't tell me something happened to that chip.

It was a ridiculous thing to worry about. That computer chip was buried so deep in Hanna's biggest makeup case that it was practically more secure than Fort Knox. A might have been good, but they couldn't be that good.

Could they?

Hanna started up the stairs. Just for peace of mind, she assured herself. After all, she didn't want her movie night with Caleb to be ruined by her irrational worrying. She crossed her bedroom, her eyes on the makeup case on her vanity. She opened it slowly, sliding aside rows of eye shadow and lip-gloss, until she reached the innermost compartment. Every fiber of her being expected to see that small, black drive sitting there. She was so sure it would be there that she could practically see it.

Practically, but not quite.

The empty compartment, built to fit an entire eye shadow palette that Hanna had removed for this purpose, stared up at her. The chip was gone, and in its place was a plain, folded piece of white paper.

It took Hanna a moment to wrap her head around this. The computer chip, which contained the biggest piece of evidence linking Hanna and her friends to Rosewood's most recent murder, was gone. It was gone.

"No," Hanna whispered, her heart skyrocketing into her throat. She grabbed the makeup case and shook it, desperate for the chip to magically come sliding out of another secret section. She yanked out other drawers and compartments, her breath quickening as she felt herself begin to panic. This was not happening. How the hell was she going to tell her friends?

Her confusion and shock was so overwhelming that she barely even noticed the paper until she turned the entire case upside down and it fluttered out, coming to rest on the vanity.

It was like Hanna's hand was moving in slow motion as she reached for it. Part of her didn't even want to open it. She already knew what it was going to say. Some mocking, mean-spirited note from A, probably about how stupid Hanna was to think she could get away with hiding an important piece of information in such a trivial place.

She unfolded the note, her fingers shaking slightly. And, just as she'd predicted, she was met with A's large, blocky handwriting. But the message was far more than just a snarky taunt.

Eenie, meenie, miny, mo. You're it, Hanna-kins. You're welcome for leaving all of your makeup behind, even though you won't need it where you're headed. Kisses, -A

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, remember that time when they built an entire episode of the show around the idea of Mona becoming the fifth Liar and then totally abandoned it? That really sucked. So I got to thinking, how would that storyline have gone? And here's what I've got. This is an AU from season 4 and on. Some of the major plot points from the show will still take place, but the storyline itself is going to be much different than the show. You'll get some amount of shipping, as it pertains to the story, but it's going to take a major backseat.
> 
> I'd love to read your thoughts, so please drop me a review and let me know what you think! I've had this story in the works for quite a while now and I'm excited to share it with you all!


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